Talia was used to the superhuman life. She is one of the youngest superhumans alive and since she is also a part of the NSA she must be going on smaller-scale missions already, but that did not mean she could survive in the places that Mark goes to. Now that he got his powers back and many of the Anima knew that he was KING, Mark knows that stronger opponents were going to surface and challenge him.
He did not know if it was okay to bring Talia into that sort of world when she was only this young.
Should he just harden his heart and send her away to live with Greg? Talia's life would not be bad with Greg and she would definitely grow with a loving father figure around her since Greg is also a father himself and she would be like other normal children. It's not like Mark lacked the money or time to take care of one more person, Mark didn't have any issues taking care of Talia.
He just felt like her life would be easier away from him.
Mark sighed as he thought about this and decided that he would talk to Arit about it and they would talk to Talia together when they make a decision. Even if Talia is a child she is far more mature than any child had a right to be and she would understand if Mark tells her their choice. Whatever choice Talia makes will tell Mark what he needed to do going forward.
"How did you and big brother Mark start living together? Are the two of you married?"
Arit was in the middle of turning a bowl of pancake batter when Talia suddenly asked her this question and Arit paused what she was doing and looked at the little girl sitting on the counter. Arit and Talia have been cooking in silence for a long time and they were only saying the bare minimum between themselves to pass the time.
Arit thought that she needed to give Talia some time with her thoughts, but it seems that Talia was no longer too depressed if she was already asking questions like these.
She wanted to know how she met Mark? That was so long ago and Arit barely remembered it. But as she furrowed her face in thought, the memories of that moment began to come back to her.
Arit met Mark two years ago when she first moved to this city with her father. Arit was just starting out at Nature Academy and she was lost in the city streets because she did not know where to go. That was after her mother died in the Anima attack and she still had a great resentment for other people, so she found it hard to ask for directions when she was walking around the city.
She somehow managed to get involved with a group of rough-looking men who were trying to take advantage of her and it was Mark that came to help her. He got rid of the men and helped Arit to find the academy. It was just a coincidence that the both of them happened to be going to the same school and they even ended up in the same class.
After that day, Arit was always looking out for Mark, but she noticed that he was barely ever in class. He would skip class and go hide in the corridor to play games or he would leave the school altogether to go out.
Arit thought that he was leaving the school to go and join gang fights – and that was also what most of the students in the school thought because of how dangerous Mark looked - but she now knew that Mark was going out there to get rid of Anima that appeared in different parts of the city.
Arit began asking around the school for Mark whenever he was missing from class, and Arit didn't know when she began going out to look for Mark anytime there was a class and he was not there.
She always searched for him because she thought that she owed him for saving her back then, but as time went on, she slowly started to understand what sort of person he was and she eventually became one of his closest friends.
It became so easy for her to find him that the teachers would always send Arit out to look for Mark if they needed to talk to him or if there was a class that he really needed to be in and he was not there. Arit knew that the teachers were afraid to talk to Mark just like all the other students around because of how tall and intimidating he looked.
Mark literally stood at least one head above everybody in the school, so it was hard for the teachers to even reprimand him since they felt like children in his presence, but Arit wasn't afraid to talk to him. Someone that saved her life could never be a bad person.
Arit said all of this to Talia, and by the time she was finished, she was already putting the batter into the pan. Talia's face scrunched up in confusion as she heard what Arit said! Talia did not understand how people could become close in the way that Arit just described and she wondered if it was possible.o
"So you and big brother Mark fell in love because he was always skipping class? Will I have to skip class to find a husband?"
Arit scoffed in surprise as she almost burst out laughing right there! What sort of question was that!?
"I don't think you have to do that. You can have a different story for finding a boyfriend. You don't have to follow our story since it is different for everyone."
"How will I know he's the right person? Grandpa always told me to stay away from boys because they are all demons."
Talia looked down at her feet sadly as she mentioned James and Arit felt her heart squeeze as she realized that Talia was going to start crying again. She came up to Talia and touched her knee. When Talia looked up at Arit, Arit smiled.
"When you find the one for you, you'll just know. You won't be able to stop thinking about him, and you'll want the best for him. When he looks at you, you'll feel this burning sensation in your stomach, like there are millions of sparks going off inside of you.
He'll be there for you even when you don't know that you need someone to be there for you, and you'll always try your best to be there for him and support him when he needs it. You'll know."
Talia was astonished by the intense emotions that Arit just described and it managed to make her stop thinking about her grandfather for some time. Talia went silent and thought for a moment before she said something that made Arit cough in shock.
"Then, will I marry big brother Mark?"
"Eh? What are you talking about!?"
Talia hummed and looked into space as she spoke.
"He's always there for me and I feel safe when he hugs me. And he is very reliable and kind. If I'm going to marry someone like you described then I want it to be big brother Mark."
The voice inside of Arit's head was in the middle of an unbelievable fit of rage as it shouted at Arit like a mad woman!
'Kill her! Kill the fucking bitch! Mark is ours! Ours! There is no space for anyone else in his life! We should kill her and hide her body in the oven!
Burn her body and bury the remains! Kill her!'